B.C.’s Caribou Recovery Program

The B.C. government recently launched the Provincial Caribou Recovery Program discussion paper (PDF). The paper acknowledges that ‘the forestry sector has the most significant current and potential impacts on caribou habitat’ and that ‘mining, forestry, oil and gas, renewable energy and road building activities have all impacted caribou habitats.’

Despite this, the strategy also proposes ‘predator control’ and ‘primary prey management’, both of which result in killing wildlife. To this point, the province has not been able to prove positive outcomes from killing wild animals to try to save caribou.

It is time for the government to take a compassion approach to conservation. You are needed to voice your support for habitat restoration and ethical concerns around killing both predator and prey species that may share space with caribou.